Patty Melt: The Last American Burger

Patty melts are retro, old school, classic. The simplicity of a thin burger patty with cheese or cheese sauce between slices of bread, toasted or not, is the epitome of diner fare. That’s why you’re most likely to find a true melt at throw-back diner concepts such as Steak ‘n Shake (which menus five melts), Waffle House (four), Shoney’s (one) and Ruby’s Diner (one). The Culver’s fast-casual burger chain markets its patty melt (beef, grilled red onion and Wisconsin Cheddar on toasted sourdough) as “100% nostalgia-inspiring.”

Culver’s Patty Melt

Where you’re not likely to find a true patty melt, however, is overseas. Classic burgers have been exported to just about every nation on the planet, but the patty melt has stayed home. It may be the last all-American burger as the burger boom continues its global trek. Check the menus of such American-style concepts in the UK as The Diner, Ed’s Easy Diner and Jamie Oliver’s Diner, for example, and the straight-up patty melt is missing.

That said, the patty melt is going through some changes here. Like every other burger style, patty melts are getting smartly dressed up at many burger bars and chains. Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s has been among the devoted patty melt champions: Carl’s Jr. introduced the Southwest Patty Melt in 2012; Hardee’s came up with the Bacon Velveeta Patty Meltdown two years later. The burger bars regularly contribute new ideas.

Here are a few recent attempts to rethink the classic American patty melt:

5 Responses to Patty Melt: The Last American Burger

Hey BB … Can you confirm.whether LA-based Norm’s Family Restaurannts, where apparently “life happens,” invented the patty melt? They claim that founder Norm Rorbach concocted the sando but I’ve never been able to corroborate this. Thnx.

I can’t yet. Wikipedia claims “It is unclear when the actual patty melt was invented, but records exist of them being served as early as the 1940s.” Norm’s opened in 1957, I believe. But it still could have invented the name.

“Eggs and Sausage” by Tom Waits
I was always eh, kinda want to like consider myself kind of a pioneer of the palette,
a restaurateur if you will.
I’ve wined, dined, sipped and supped in some of the most demonstrably beamer
epitomable bistros in the Los Angles metropolitan region.
Yeah, I’ve had strange looking patty melts at Norm’s.
I’ve had dangerous veal cutlets at the Copper Penny.
Well what you get is a breaded salsbury steak in a shake-n-bake
and topped with a provocative sauce of Velveeta and uh, half-n-half.
Smothered with Campbell’s tomato soup.
See I have kinda of a uh…well I order my veal cutlet,
Christ it left the plate and it walked down to the end of the counter.
Waitress, ? she’s wearing those rhinestone glasses with the little pearl thing clipped on the sweater.
My veal cutlet come down, tried to beat the shit out of my cup of coffee.
Coffee just wasn’t strong enough to defend itself.

Thanks for the complete lyrics. I have a friend in LA who always brings this song up for some reason but I’ve never actually heard it — I have had several Norm’s patty melts and while I wouldn’t call them strange, they were unique. Some might say burnt but I’m not going to go that far. Well done? Sure.